many children in the bay area are headed back to school tomorrow, which means a last-minute shopping rush for many parent pchs we'll have the numbers on spending this year compared to last in a live report. federal investigators have joined in the search for the cause of the fire in heelsburg last night that destroyed a post office. in southern california, eight people are dead after a truck at a racing event crashed. also, republicans fire back at the president after he appears to tone down his report of the mosque near ground zero. the bay area at 5:00 starts right now. good evening.

i'm diane dwyer. many families spent this weekend getting ready for the first day of school. children in much of san jose and san francisco are heading back to classes tomorrow. doesn't it seem kind of early? nbc bay area's ria taormina has the latest. >> reporter: it seems a little earlier this year. but that means they get to take their exams before christmas break. families are packing it in at the mall here and they are back-to-school shopping. and families are looking for bargains as the kid goes back to school. and they have to get their basics. families with grade school children and high schoolers are spending most of to their back-to-school budget on clothing. parents are trying to balance those costs with electronics and accessories for school like backpacks. the economy plays a big role in back-to-school preparations. we found that many families, although spending wisely, are spend morgue this year.

there are things that schools require that parents have to get and then there are those things that kids just want to have. mckenna lee is spending some of her hard-earned babysitting dollars on school clothes that can serve two purposes as outfits, like this dress. >> i saw it a little while ago and i really liked it. and then thid get my mom's opinion. and it can also work as a shirt kind of with jeans, which is why i thought it was a good way to spend my money. >> she asked me for a couple of things. i said i'll take one and you can take the other. it's a give and take. budgeting. >> reporter: now the average american family will spend $606 this year on clothes, shoes and electronics for schools. now that's compared to $548 last year on average. it's almost a difference of $60 more this year. now that's what we found as well. many of the parents here saying they aren't spend morgue this year but they're trying to spend it more wisely and with dual

purposes, whether it's clothes, electronics and shoes. like sneakers, shoes they can wear at school but also after school and on the weekends. now also, retailers, this is a big time for them. back-to-school season is only second to the christmas shopping season. so it's really important for all. but if we can judge by the parking lot and the packed stores today, everyone seems to be doing pretty well, as far as sales and as far as people getting good money -- good value for their dollar. reporting live in san jose, ria taormina. >> i've got to get shopping for my kid. police are investigating the death of a man found in a park today. a jogger says he spotted the body face down in a pond at los gatos creek park in campbell near highway 17 and san tomas expressway. the man was in his 60s and dressed in jogging clothes. an official cause of death has not been determined just yet but they do not suspect foul play. the man was pronounced dead at about 12:40 this afternoon. his name has not been released.

federal investigators are looking into what caused a fire at a sonoma county post office yesterday afternoon. witnesses called shortly before 5:30 yesterday evening to report smoke coming from the roof of the post office. the fire reached four alarms and the building was gutted. two firefighters were injured. the post office, by the way, also serves as a community meeting place. it's been a busy weekend along the gulf coast. president obama visited the region for the fifth time since that explosion on a deepwater oil rig. meantime, fishing waters have reopened in many places. despite concerns over the lingering effects of the oil well. jay gray has details from venice, louisiana. >> reporter: it was a picture-perfect day off the florida coast this morning. the first family sharing the gulf waters with a school of tortoise before ending the day with a scoop of ice cream. the president hopes his weekend visit will convince tourists to

come back to the gulf coast. louisiana shrimpers are making their way back out on the water. >> they say the water is clean. the seafood is safe. all we can do is try. >> reporter: as captains prepare to lower their nets, many for the first time since the well collapse, they must deal with the same problem they faced for almost four months here. uncertainty. fears over the safety of the seafood have filtered down now from consumers to the distributors who still haven't figured out how they'll handle the catch. >> when we come in tomorrow we'll find out whether we'll be able to sell the shrimp we catch. as for the price we'll get for the shrimp, no one knows. archlths the spill site, an armada of ships vournd the well as they continue pressure tests trying to figure out in f the bottom kill could further damage the fractured rig and push more oil into the gulf, which means the effort to permanently seal

the well could still be a full week away. jay gray, nbc news, venice, louisiana. a night of entertainment quickly turned into a scene of panic in southern california last night. an off-road truck at the california 200 event in the mojave desert took a jump too fast and hurled into the crowd. eight people were killed and 12 injured. some fans ran to help lifting the truck off some of the victims. others saw the chaos from a distance. >> within ten minutes of us being here, we heard everybody start screaming. the truck just starts flipping. we looked over. everybody just scrambles away. people come running down from the rocks up there, and, you know, it started flipping the truck over. there's people laying there knocked out and, you know, people were scrambling everywhere. >> at least seven of those killed were in their early 20s. the driver and passenger of the truck were not injured. police in buffalo, new york, are back pedalling a bit after making an arrest in this

weekend's deadly shooting outside a nightclub. investigators arrested a 25-year-old man yesterday afternoon in connection with the shooting that killed four people and wounded another four early saturday morning. well, now prosecutors have dropped the charges against kevin johnson. however, police won't go so far as to say they made a mistake. >> with the new information, we were able to determine what we believe now that the suspect we arrested, mr. johnson, was not the suspect in the homicide. however, having said that, based on the information they had, identification, other evidence, i believe they were justified in the arrest earlier. >> johnson is still being held for violating his parole. police are now following leads and asking the public to come forward with any information that could help with an arrest. a planned rally in dublin in support of b.a.r.t. officer johannes mehserle drew just a few supporters this afternoon. dublin police had expected about 75 people to show up to the rally. only about a dozen people were

there. a rally in walnut creek last month turned into a shouting match between about 300 people in support and opposed to mehserle. mehserle is the former b.a.r.t. police officer convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of oscar grant. still to come at 5:00 -- >> i think the president is trying to have it both ways. >> republican lawmakers were quick to criticize the president after he backs off his support for a mosque near ground zero. ♪ tens of thousands of people walk out in san francisco to the likes of soul legend al green at outside lands. we'll have a listen. emeryville's pixar sets a new record in animation. and sunshine looking live over san francisco. there is some more fog coming on. temperatures are still below average. we'll tell you how long that's going to last. th

well, president obama was in florida taking in the sights this weekend. critics sound off on his support of a controversial mosque near ground zero. the white house had been avoiding the issue for months, but on friday, the president weighed in. he said muslims have just as much right to practice their religion as everyone else in america. and that included the right to build a place of worship on private property. later, he, quote, clarified that remark saying, quote, i was not commenting and i will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. i was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding fathers. republicans fired back. >> i think the president, by the way is trying to have it both ways. i don't know of anyone who is saying that muslims do not have

the try to practice their religion. but with right goes responsibilities. that's been part of what the president didn't comment on. polls show about two-third of americans are opposed to the mosque near ground zero. the top commander in afghanistan says the war against the taliban started to show progress in the spring and those gains need more time to take route. general david petraeus was the sole guest on "meet the press." he told david gregory while he's very aware of the july 2011 pullout deadline, he doesn't feel it's an absolute. >> the president has been very clear. vice president biden has been very clear as well more leniently that this is a day when the process begins that is conditions based. as the conditions permit, we transition tasks to our afghan counterparts and the security forces and various governmental institutions. and that enables a, quote, responsible drawdouchb our forces. >> that tempered optimism comes as public support for the nine-year war is slipping and monthly death tolls are rising.

the white house says it hopes political support will hold until december when the general is due to give his capitol hill assessment of the war. and still to come at 5:00 -- the new rules that kick in tomorrow that could keep you from ever spending 40 bucks on a cup of coffee. whether you intend to or not. ♪ [ horns honking ] ♪ [ male announcer ] come into an at&t store and experience tv like you've never seen before. ♪ for a limited time, get u-verse tv for only $29 a month for 6 months with dvr included. for a limited time, get u-verse tv ♪

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as the one-year anniversary of the lockerbie bombers' approach approaches, anger is mounting over the way he says set free. experts had said he only had about four months to live. that was part of the reason he was released from a scottish jail and allowed to return to libya. a year laerkts he's still alive. >> reporter: this weekend, british newspapers have been collecting the latest developments on al ma grau he's release. most 5 this centers around the doctors. peter k., the prison doctor who

contributed toward the release had no special knowledge. he played a key in the medical evidence collected but the newspaper has determined he was not in any specialist register. another newspaper the snund times, says the four specialists who were responsible for al megrahi's care were not consulted at all. all four of the men who included personal oncologists, a urologist and the doctor who first diagnosed his cancer said they had not signed any prognosis that statd al megrahi only had four months to live. a leading cancer specialist for one of thely doctors consulted has said today if he knew his opinion would have been treated as fact he would have been more vague about how long elmegrahi would live. >> al megrahi is the only person to have been jailed for the pan am flight over the small town of lockerby. 259 people were killed. mostly americans.

bank overdraft fees may no longer hit your wallet because of new federal regulations. starting tomorrow, banks will automatically opt everyone out of their overdraft protection program. that move comes in response to that so-called $40 cup of coffee experience when you buy something small with your atm card, only later to find out you had to pay a $35 overdraft fee along with it. you'll be opted out of that program starting tomorrow unless you tell your bank you want it. you can opt-in if you'd like. helping the homeless was the goal of an event in the south bay. human dignity daya s an annual event put on to provide a hot meal, clothes and more to hundreds of homeless people during the holy month of ramadan. hundreds of people came out to the downtown san jose location to take part today. >> it's a time when we reflect and think about the people that are not able to eat just as we are not eating this month. >> the group says they get a

majority of their supplies donated from the community or other organizations. this is the fifth year of the event. ♪ that looks like fun. sfraerns's golden gate park was filled with music today because of the outside land, music and arts festival. the two-day event started tomorrow. that soul singer al green you see there on the stage. more than 100,000 people showed up at last year's festival. they are expecting about the same today. and, craig, a little colder this year than last year. >> last year a lot of sunshine. the fog and cooler conditions still with it. temperatures about 10 degrees cooler than average. even though they came up a little today -- >> let's take you outside right now. golden gate bridge live. not much in the wave fog there right now. if you are going there later this evening you, need layers. the fog just off the coast getting ready to blow in through tonight and tomorrow morning. next spot brings us south to the east side of the bay toward san francisco. off in the distance, just passed

mt. tam. about 500 feet shallower than it was this time yesterday. we'll still have plenty of it tomorrow morning. a look out over sunol. plenty of sunshine. temperatures finally reaching the upper 70s and a couple of low 80s today. we'll get a few more of those tomorrow. there's san jose. look at the wind blowing through. temperatures in san jose, close to the 70s. a couple of 60s close to the coast. san francisco at 60. 72 through napa. still mid-60s around the rim of the bay. any 80s on the map are close to concord and fairfield. temperatures have come up just a couple of degrees from this time yesterday. even then, we're still dealing with cooler conditions. look at the wind out of the northwest. 5 to 15 miles per hour. 21 miles per hour closer to fairfield. concord 15 miles per hour. so, yeah, gusty winds tonight. also want to point out if you are headed to reno or lake tahoe tonight or early tomorrow morning, a couple of lightning strikes closer to the lake. a little spin in the atmosphere. high fire danger there tonight through tomorrow. by tomorrow afternoon, that's

out of the area. so you are fine for any hikes. but it will be windy. that's the spin i showed you just starting to move off into the dakotas. that's what gave us the deep marine layer last night and gave us cooler conditions today. another one right there. that starts to come in tuesday evening. we get one day of warmer weather. mid80s at that. that's tomorrow. so kids going back to school tomorrow. there's just one little bump. we'll get 80s out there. the fog will clear earlier tomorrow. we'll get some 60s -- mid60 along the beaches. plus the upper 50s we've been dealing with. after that's done, just one day, beginning on wednesday. we'll cool back down. 8:00 a.m. if you are on your way to school, some mist, fog and drizzle along the coast. and parts of the bay area. noon, 70s. by 5:00 p.m., lower 80s. 85 in morgan hill tomorrow. 64 san francisco. a couple of degrees warmer than today. 82 in livermore. lots of 70s for the north end of

the bay. will take you a little longer to cool. seven-day forecast. tomorrow being the warmest day. but we say warmest day. diane, only mid-80s. look at next week. next weekend the wind blows in. a cool wind. only in the mid-70s for afternoon highs next weekend. so enjoy tomorrow and tuesday. a little fire danger for lake tahoe tonight and into tomorrow. the 49ers got to warm up in indianapolis. >> i think it's an indoor stadium out there. >> is it really? >> i think so. >> that's a little embarrassing. >> lucas oil stadium. the 49ers, preseason debut. >> they were warm as they walked in. >> peyton manning, what did he do against mike singletary and the niners? we have mixed results? touchdown here. also that big showdown series at china basin. giants and the padres. tim lincecum, we have problems. it didn't go quite according to plan. the pga championship just ending a few minutes ago. a strange and bizarre ending.

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he smacked a two-run homer. the giants still trailing, 5-2. getting back to lincecum. he got knocked out of the game in the fourth inning. ryan ludwick with the rbi single. a 6-2 lead. they go on to win, 8-2. and san diego wins this series. that means now the giants drop 3 1/2 games behind san diego in the division. the a's in minnesota. they almost got no-hit by minnesota's kevin slowey. he left the game after seven innings allowing zero hits. kevin kouzmanoff swinging out right there. bottom of the seventh. jim thome of the twins. a three-run homer off jerry blefens. the a's get swept in the game. this is a big day. the 49ers kicking off the preseason. about the toughest opponent you can have against peyton manning and the colts in indianapolis. the colts wearing their throwback jerseys. manning like a surgeon. played in just a couple of

drives. the first two drives and scored each time. hands off here to joseph adai. the 49ers, like lincecum, had issues, too. alex smith could have had a touchdown on this play here. a wide open vernon davis right up the seam. he underthrows them. the niners dropped a lot of balls as well. second quarter, when manning left the game, the 49ers took advantage. reggie smith picks off curtis painer. the 49ers actually win this game. but the starting units not too effective. 49ers beat the colts. 37-17. and finally, the pga championship north of milwaukee along the shores of lake michigan. here's dustin johnson. watch carefully. he touches his club to the ground right about here. that's against the rules when you are in a bunker. the problem is justin johnson didn't know this was technically

a bunker. it's a two-stroke penalty. he goes from first place to fifth place. and the winner is -- martin kamer out of germney. 25 years old. the tournament just ended. the same guy that stumbled down the stretch at pebble beach at the u.s. open. dustin johnson. >> he's not having a good year. >> thanks a lot. still to come at 5:00 -- thg ee g rhtr s xaedpirnea w.isndkeig

pixar broke a box office record today. "toy story 3" is now the highest grossing animated film of all time. the movie has brought in about $920 million after almost two months in theaters. it is disney's fourth best grossing film after the two "pirates of the caribbean" movies and tim burton's "alice in wonderland." pix sarbased in e